GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY

Before the advent of the internet, only those with a public platform, such as politicians and celebrities, could easily communicate with the public. Now, anyone who has a social media account can quickly and easily disseminate a message or an idea. In fact, many human services organizations regularly use social media to advocate for their targeted service users and to raise awareness about important social justice issues. For instance, human services employees at the National Alliance to End Homelessness regularly use social media to advocate for the needs of the homeless population. Some social media posts include statistics and other important information about homelessness, while others encourage the public to contact elected officials to pass or protect legislation designed to help homeless individuals.

For this Assignment, you create a short, social-media-style post that advocates for a social justice issue that aligns with your professional identity.

RESOURCES

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources. 

WEEKLY RESOURCES

TO PREPARE

• Review the Learning Resources on the role of advocacy in human services. Think about the challenges diverse groups of service users face and the ways in which advanced human services professional practitioners can advocate for service users.
• Review the Learning Resources on developing an advocacy message. Pay particular attention to how social media can be used for advocacy.
• Reflect on your professional identity statement and the special interests you identified. Think about a social justice issue related to your interests.
• Create a social-media-style post advocating for a social justice issue that you are passionate about and that aligns with your professional identity. You may use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or another technology (such as, a free infographic app) to create your post. Your post should include a combination of text (no more than a few sentences) and visual elements that communicate the importance/urgency of your issue. You may also wish to include a link to a website that provides more detailed information about the issue.

BY DAY 7

Submit a short social-media-style post advocating for your chosen social justice issue.

Note: You are not required to actually post the message on a social media platform outside the classroom; however, you may certainly do so if you would like to.

Resources/References

• Schram, B., Mandell, B.R., Dann, P.L., & Peterson, L. (2020). An introduction to human services: Policy and practice (9th ed.). Pearson.
  • Chapter 7, “Working with Diversity” (pp. 160–206) 
  • Chapter 12, “Indirect Strategies: Organizing for Change” (pp. 299–322)
• Snow, K. C. (2013). The importance of advocacy and advocacy competencies in human service professionsLinks to an external site.. Journal of Human Services, 33(1), 5–16.  Links to an external site.
• Walden University, LLC. (2020b).Hart CityLinks to an external site. [Interactive media]. Walden University Canvas. https://waldenu.instructure.com

Note: Visit the Hart City Human Services Agency, the Hart City Middl